


Connected Hearts

by Kalua



Series: Advent Calendar 2019 [24]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angstshipping - Freeform, Christmas, M/M, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21934078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalua/pseuds/Kalua
Summary: After a few weeks of exchanging emails, Ryou asks if Marik would like to spend the holidays in Japan.
Relationships: Bakura Ryou/Marik Ishtar
Series: Advent Calendar 2019 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559035
Comments: 7
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

Marik checked the clock again. Almost noon, which would make it… Around seven for Ryou? Yeah, that sounded about right.

He impatiently tapped his foot. The emails usually came earlier, and Marik couldn’t help but be a bit nervous. Of course he knew that Ryou had probably just gotten distracted by something, or maybe he was hanging out with Yugi and the others. Nothing big. It wasn’t like they’d agreed to write each other at this time, either, it had just happened the last couple of weeks, so Marik had started to expect it. Look forward to it, even.

Maybe he should go and help Ishizu; switching from being practically nonexistent to being a normal family took a lot of time, and especially a lot of paperwork. Then again, if he left, he might end up missing Ryou’s email, and with Ishizu and Rishid working on it already, he might just get in their way instead of being much help.

He refreshed the page again. Finally, a new mail! Perhaps a bit too hastily, Marik opened it. Ishizu would tease him about it if she knew.

“Sorry for being late!” the mail said. “My club ended up taking longer than it normally does, and then I talked with Yugi for a while.”

So, like Marik had thought, just normal stuff. Nothing to worry about.

“You know, Yugi and I were talking about our plans for the holidays, and I’ve been thinking… Do you want to come over to Japan? I’d understand if it’s too far or if you’d prefer spending Christmas and New Year’s with your family, but I’d be happy if you could come.”

Marik’s heart nearly skipped a beat when he thought about meeting Ryou again; this was an easy decision. And it wasn’t like he had much else to do during that time, either.

“I’d love to,” he replied. “I just need to take care of flight tickets first. Give me a second, I’ll ask Ishizu.” The quiet humming of his computer faded into the background as he rushed over to where Ishizu and Rishid were working. He felt a bit guilty about just leaving when they might need his help, but…

Ishizu looked up from the document she’d been reading. “You need a plane ticket to Japan?”

Marik glanced at her neck, but of course the Millennium Necklace wasn’t there anymore.

“I’ve known you for your entire life, Marik. I can tell you want to ask me something. And I know that at this time, you’re usually writing with Bakura. So, it was either that you wanted to visit him, or that he was planning on visiting you.”

If she put it like that, yes, maybe it had been obvious. “Ryou asked if I wanted to visit his family over Christmas.”

“Well, we’ll need to halt some of this,” she gestured towards the paperwork, “So it doesn’t become obvious your passport isn’t real. But I think a few weeks more won’t make much of a difference now.” A gentle smile played on her lips. “Go on, tell him you’ll come.”

Marik’s eyes lit up. It hadn’t even been that long since they had said goodbye to each other, but he missed Ryou already. “Thanks, Ishizu.”

And before she could say anything else, he rushed back to his computer to tell Ryou the good news. No new mail yet, but Ryou was probably waiting for Marik’s next one. “All right, I talked to her. When is your winter vacation?”

While he waited for the answer, Marik started looking for plane tickets. He would’ve loved to go right the next day, but he knew it’d make far more sense to visit during the actual holidays, when Ryou would be free, too.

It didn’t take long for the answer to arrive. “Great! My holidays start on December 25th, and end January 7th. You can stay for the whole holidays, if you want to.”

Marik quickly augmented his search for those days. Of course he’d try to stay for as long as possible, the only question was which times he’s arrive and leave. “Is there anything I should bring with me? Presents for your family?”

They wrote for a little while longer to figure out all the details. They’d spend Christmas with Yugi’s group in Domino city, before meeting up with Ryou’s father and spending New Year’s in the countryside where his family lived.

Marik could barely wait for Christmas to come around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My plan originally was to have the other chapters ready so the fic would be completely posted by the end of the year... Spoiler: Did not work lol


	2. Chapter 2

Only a few weeks later, Marik waited at the airport. The line for the immigration check seemed to go on forever, hindering him from leaving and finally being in Domino City. He wondered if Ryou was already waiting for him; he’d promised to pick him up, at least.

Finally, he was through security. His heart was beating just a little bit faster. Sure, he’d been to Japan before, but that time had been different. He’d had a mission then, a dark purpose, rather than just visiting his… friend.

Marik looked around once he got to the main area. It took him a while to spot Ryou, who was waving at him already. Dragging his suitcase behind him, Marik hurried over to Ryou. “Sorry, it took a while.”

Ryou shrugged. “No problem, I didn’t have to wait too long. Did you have a nice flight?”

“I did.” Marik smiled. “So… Where are we going?”

“Ah, this way. You probably want to drop of your luggage first, right? I made some space in my living room for you.” Ryou returned Marik’s smile as they walked out of the airport together and towards the train.

They chatted about the flight; Ryou had only flown in a plane once in his life, when he and the others had gone from Egypt back to Japan. The only other time he’d been high above the ground had been during Kaiba’s Battle City tournament, but he barely remembered any of it, for obvious reasons.

It was a short walk from the station to Ryou’s house. Now that they were walking, Ryou was more silent, as if his thoughts were elsewhere. But while Marik would’ve loved to ask, he wasn’t quite sure how.

After a minute or two, Ryou carefully took Marik’s hand. Marik felt almost as if a bolt of lightning shot through him; it was a nice feeling, though it did make him tense up for a second.

Ryou hurriedly let go again, his face flushed bright red. “Ah, sorry! I just thought… Um…” He bit his lip and looked down.

Marik shook his head. “No, no, it’s… It’s okay.” Even more carefully than Ryou had been, he grabbed Ryou’s hand and intertwined his fingers with Ryou’s. He wasn’t quite sure whether he was doing it correctly, but at least it didn’t feel wrong. “I just didn’t…” Unsure what to say, he stopped mid-sentence. Heat rose to his cheeks, and though he hoped his darker complexion would hide his blush, he doubted it did.

Both of them were silent for a little bit, as if they had to get used to holding hands. Marik hadn’t exactly thought about Ryou this way before, at least not consciously. But now… It felt good to be with him. Definitely. And that would explain Ishizu’s fast agreement, too. She’d always been fairly perceptive about him, so it wasn’t out of the question that she’d noticed long before he did.

Ryou glanced at Marik every now and then, and while the red on his cheeks slowly disappeared, a hint of pink remained. But he was smiling, too. It was nice to be together like this, even if neither of them was entirely sure what “like this” meant.

Finding a place for Marik’s luggage was easy; he only had a book or two as carry-on luggage, and his small suitcase. He was used to travelling lightly, after all, and he didn’t own many thick clothes to take up storage space. That might become a problem if it got colder, but he’d worry about that when he had to; the way here had been chilly, but not too cold.

“Are you tired?” Ryou asked when Marik sat down on the couch next to him.

Marik shook his head. “No, I’m fine. I slept on the plane.” As if to belie his words, he yawned.

Ryou smiled. “Are you sure? You can take a nap if you need to. Yugi and the others know you’re here, but I told them you might have a bit of jetlag and that we should probably meet tomorrow instead.”

“No, really, I’m fine. I’m not that tired.” If he was completely honest, though, he wouldn’t mind not spending time with the others for now. Ryou’s company was more than enough. “Did anything change around here since… my last visit?” Referring to his actions back then felt awkward, but even if he didn’t acknowledge them, they’d always be there. He couldn’t change the past, after all.

If Ryou felt uncomfortable being reminded of what had happened, he didn’t show it. “Not much. Well, a few stores closed, some others opened, but nothing big. Just the normal city stuff.”

“Well, I’m not exactly familiar with big cities.” Marik saw the look of surprise on Ryou’s face and quickly kept talking, to prevent him from asking too many questions. “I didn’t look around the last time I was here, and when I was younger, I didn’t go out much.” Maybe he shouldn’t have started this topic. Marik started looking for a way to change it; his childhood was everything but a good topic for small talk.

“Hm…” Ryou looked thoughtful for a moment. “If you’re not used to them, maybe that’s what we could do today? I could just show you around, tell you what’s typical and what’s unique to Domino City.”

“Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks.” Marik stood up, trying to hide how glad he was to have avoided any further questions. “Should we leave right now?”

Ryou stood up as well. “Uh, we can, but are you sure you want to go out in those clothes? It’ll get even colder in the evening.”

Marik tugged at his jacket. “I’ll be fine. It’s not like I have much of a choice anyway.”

Ryou was silent for a moment, then headed for his wardrobe and looked through some of his own clothes. “We should have roughly the same size…” He mumbled, more to himself than to Marik, until he pulled out a jacket. “Here. I’d hate for you to get cold.”

“Thanks.” This jacket was far warmer than what Marik was currently wearing. He smiled. “Are you ready?”

Ryou returned the smile. “Sure. I have a few ideas where I could take you, probably more than enough for today. Oh, and there’s a nice restaurant, too, maybe we can get dinner there afterwards…”

As they headed out, Ryou thought for a second, then took Marik’s hand again; Marik replied by intertwining his fingers with Ryou’s.

While Ryou might’ve had some ideas, he didn’t have a route planned out, so the day was filled with a mixture of window-shopping and sightseeing around the city. Marik didn’t mind, though; it was nice being here without a goal to focus on, without a mission to fulfill. Right now, it was just him and Ryou spending time together, with no higher purpose than to enjoy their time together.

The sun had almost set by the time they finished, the last rays tinting Domino City’s park in a gentle orange light. Ryou and Marik hadn’t let go of each other’s hands the entire time.

“The park is kind of popular among most people, but I guess it’s not all that interesting to you, so we don’t have to go in.” Ryou shrugged, but the way his eyes lingered on the path told Marik that he wanted to spend more than just a few seconds in it.

Marik gently squeezed Ryou’s hand. “I’d love to see it. The plants in Japan look different from the ones in Egypt, too, so it’s still all new to me.” When their eyes met, Marik gave Ryou a gentle smile; Ryou could barely return it before he blushed and looked away.

Small walls separated the park from the rest of the city, but even so, leaving the tall buildings behind and swapping them for trees and grassy trails felt almost surreal. Most of the trees were empty, the fir trees providing flecks of green between the barren twigs.

“It looks nicer in summer, when everything is green… Or early in the morning, when the trees are frosted with ice,” Ryou said, his tone almost apologetic.

Marik shook his head. “It looks great now, too. But if you want to, we can go here again tomorrow morning.”

“Ah, really?” Ryou looked over at Marik.

“Sure.” Marik smiled. “Maybe you can show me your favorite place now, though. If it’s that great, there’ll probably be many people here then.”

“All right, it’s this way.” Ryou led Marik down the nearest path.

It took them a while to reach the place he had in mind. There was a small hill near the center of the park, a few steps away from the paths. On its top, there was a small bench, hidden by the branches of a nearby willow tree. Marik could easily imagine how it’d be almost invisible in summer, when the tree was green.

“If we’d come here earlier, the branches would look like curtains of ice,” Ryou said as he led Marik up the hill. “Almost like a picture from a fairy tale.”

They sat down, still holding hands. It was cold, but even in the twilight, there was something ethereal about this place. Marik could see why Ryou liked it so much.

“What do you think?” Ryou looked at Marik, the dim light from a nearby lantern reflected in his eyes.

“It’s great.” If this place was from a fairy tale, then Ryou was probably the fae king the tale was about. His pale hair seemed to glow in the darkness, and Marik was at a loss for words.

It would be so easy to lean over, close the little bit of distance that remained between him and Ryou. Marik could almost imagine how Ryou’s lips would feel on his own, how soft Ryou’s hair would be when he dug his hand into it…

But then Ryou looked away, out towards the park, and the moment was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Damn College stuff preventing me from writing and editing these two fools in love~~


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, they were going to meet Yugi and the others. Since Ryou had the biggest apartment, they’d decided to all come over to his place; Ryou and Marik quickly moved Marik’s suitcase and his futon out of the way, and Ryou put up a little plastic Christmas tree he’d borrowed from his neighbors. As the finishing touch, he and Marik put their Christmas presents underneath. Of course, the wrapping of Marik’s had suffered a bit during his journey, but it was intact enough to conceal the gift inside.

Marik was wearing one of Ryou’s sweatshirts. It was fairly warm inside, so it wasn’t like he _needed_ it, but he wasn’t about to turn down the opportunity. Wearing Ryou’s sweatshirts was just too cozy.

The doorbell rang around noon, and Ryou opened. Yugi and the others had come all together, of course.

“Hey, I hope we’re not too late?” Yugi asked, smiling.

Ryou shook his head. “No, not at all. Come in.”

Once the greetings were taken care of, Anzu gestured towards the Christmas tree. “Should we put our presents there, too?”

Ryou nodded. “Yes, please. Then we can all talk a bit and take some pictures before we swap them.”

The tree looked gorgeous with all the colorful presents underneath, and the conversation was lively. But even so, Marik was a bit unsure about how to act around the others; it hadn’t seemed like there’d been any hard feelings the last time they met, but considering all he’d done…

Yugi smiled at him, though. “It’s nice to see you again, Marik.” And the others were quick to nod and agree. That was a good sign, at least.

Marik looked from one to the other, then nodded as well. “It’s… Nice to see you, too.”

But regardless of how nice they were, Marik couldn’t quite shake the awkwardness, and let the others do most of the talking.

Jonouchi crossed his hands behind his head. “You know, Marik, last time we were all together, you were much more relaxed.” He looked at Marik quizzically.

Marik just nodded. “Last time, I had a mission to focus on,” he explained.

“So?” Jonouchi tilted his head to the side.

Marik averted his eyes for a second, but then focused on Jonouchi again. “Having a mission meant that I didn’t have any time to wonder, well, how you might think of me after everything.”

Ryou reached over to gently squeeze Marik’s hand, drawing his attention and netting him a smile. “I’m pretty sure if they didn’t forgive you, they wouldn’t be here.”

Anzu nodded. “As far as I’m concerned, we’re friends now.”

“Yeah.” Honda grinned. “And we’re not just saying that because Bakura might curse us if we disagree.”

“I wouldn’t curse you…”

Honda raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying you could if you wanted to?”

“Uh, well…” Ryou stammered, but he didn’t exactly disagree before they all broke out laughing.

A few hours later, time had come for the presents. They’d drawn names beforehand, so each of them only had to buy one gift instead of several.

“So, how do we do this?” Jonouchi asked. “Do we open them all at once, or…?”

“We could roll a die.” Yugi dug in his pocket for a second, then brought out a simple six-sided die. “We pass it around, and when someone has a six, they get the present.”

“Sounds good to me.” Honda grabbed his present from under the tree and sat down cross-legged next to Yugi.

Anzu took hers and sat down on his other side. “It was your idea, so you should start.”

Of course, this method took longer than Jonouchi’s idea, but it also meant every gift got the attention it deserved. Marik genuinely enjoyed seeing the others’ eyes light up when they opened their own presents—as did Ryou, since every time Marik glanced at him, he was on the edge of his seat, a big smile on his face.

Marik got his present from Anzu; a simple friendship necklace, nothing too fancy, but he was stunned for a moment nonetheless. “Thank you,” was all he managed to say before he put the necklace on. It felt… Strange, being regarded as their friend. Strange, but nice.

What he was really waiting for, though, was Ryou’s turn. By sheer luck, Marik had managed to draw Ryou’s name, and he was dying to see whether he’d found a good present. But until now, Ryou had managed to roll just about every number except for even a single Six.

It came to the point that he was the last one to be without a present.

Ryou took the die, but hesitated. “Should I still roll? I mean… it’s clear who’ll get the next present.” He looked over at the tree, where the only package left was the one in Marik’s slightly battered wrapping paper.

“Yeah, go ahead,” Jonouchi said.

Yugi nodded. “At least once. If it’s not a Six, we can decide whether you can take your present anyway.”

“All right.” Ryou rolled the die, and finally, it showed the long-awaited Six.

Marik practically jumped up to grab the present and hand it to Ryou; he felt as if he could hear some giggling from the others, though he wasn’t sure.

Ryou opened it carefully. Instead of ripping the wrapping paper open, he gently loosened the tape holding it together, revealing a box with a bracelet inside.

Its imagery was, unsurprisingly, Egyptian. The first thing to catch Ryou’s eye was the malachite lioness it had as a pendant. From there, his eye trailed to the two golden plates the lioness was attached to, one with the image of a lotus on it, the other showing a feather. On the lotus’s side, the plate was followed by a carnelian cobra; not a pendant this time, but as a link to the next plate, this one bearing the image of some sort of tower or pillar—if Ryou remembered what his father had told him correctly, it was called a djed pillar. On the feather’s side, there was a turquoise ibis, its wings halfway stretched out as if it was mid-flight. Of course, Marik’s funds hadn’t been enough for a bracelet containing actual gemstones, but the imitations he’d gotten looked almost identical to an untrained eye.

Ryou laid it in the palm of his hand to look at it. “It’s beautiful.” He then put it on top of his wrist, and held his arm out towards Marik. “Would you help me close it?”

“Of course.” He moved perhaps a bit too hastily, which caused him to need a second try before he managed to connect the ibis to the pillar.

Ryou twisted the bracelet a little and smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Marik smiled back; seeing Ryou happy warmed him more than any sweatshirts or heaters could ever do.

For a few moments, the others were silent, until Jonouchi clapped his hands together. “All right guys!” Instantly, all attention was on him; he had a huge grin on his face as he pulled out a deck of cards. “Who’s up for some duels?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~It's like April but who cares about time and months anyway let's have a little Christmas now~~  
>  Also, I'd like y'all to know that the bracelet took over 4 hours of research and to figure out how it should look. 4+ hours. For a bracelet for _one_ fic.  
> Anyone who gets all the symbolism I put into it gets a virtual cookie ashdjklhjklhk


	4. Chapter 4

A few days past Christmas, Ryou and Marik were packing to visit Ryou’s father. Ryou looked up from the shirt he was folding. “I’ve told dad about you, by the way.”

“Huh?” For a second, Marik froze with a deer-in-the-headlights look. “You have?”

Ryou blushed. “I mean… Not about, you know. About us dating. But he does know you’re coming, of course, and that we’ve been chatting a lot.”

“Hm.” Marik finished with his own clothes and sat down on the bed. “How much does he know about the ring and everything else?”

Ryou shook his head. “Not much. I moved out so Dad wouldn’t find out, so…” He shrugged. “He might ask about the ring, though. It was a present from him; he didn’t know what exactly it was, or he wouldn’t have taken it at all.”

“How did you explain how we met?” Marik asked. “Just so I don’t tell him anything you don’t want him to know.”

“A class trip to Egypt.” Ryou grinned sheepishly. “It was the best I could come up with why I was just gone for a while. And, well, with the others there it was… kind of a class trip, I guess…”

Marik nodded. He’d keep that in mind.

Ryou closed his suitcase. “Okay, done. And the train leaves in an hour, so we don’t have to hurry.” He tilted his head to the side and thought for a moment. “Although we should probably get going already, it’s always pretty crowded around the holidays.”

Marik got up, and as they left, he took Ryou’s hand without even thinking about it. When he glanced at Ryou, he could see a small smile—and just a hint of pink on his cheeks, but whether that was because of Marik or because of the cold, he couldn’t say.

It was cute, though.

Ryou’s father came to pick them up from the train station. “Nice to meet you. You must be Marik?”

“Yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you, too.” Marik smiled and bowed politely. He wasn’t usually nervous about meeting new people—truth be told, people he knew were worse, considering they might know what he’d done—but, well, this was Ryou’s parent. He was a special case.

Ryou’s father smiled at him. “Isn’t that Ryou’s jacket?”

“Oh, um…” Marik tugged at his sleeve and glanced over to Ryou, who just nodded and shrugged.

“Marik’s not really prepared for the weather around here, so I lent him some of my clothes,” he explained.

Ryou’s father nodded. “You were from… Egypt, right?”

“Yes, exactly. It can get cold there in some areas, but the one I live in is usually fairly warm.”

“Yeah, I know.” The trio started leaving the train station, headed for the parking lot. “I’ve been to Egypt, too, actually. I’m not sure if Ryou told you?”

Ryou’s father looked away to unlock the car, and Ryou and Marik exchanged a glance.

“Uh, he mentioned it, I think,” Marik finally answered. He and Ryou sat on the backseat next to each other, while Ryou’s father was, of course, the one driving. Maybe Marik should’ve sat next to him instead, but now it was too late to switch seats. And, truth be told, he much preferred sitting in the backseat with Ryou.

The drive was pleasant, though. Ryou’s father was good at small talk, even if Marik repeatedly got distracted by the scenery—so vastly different from what he was used to, and everything was powdered with snow. It looked magical. Marik’s favorite were the bamboo groves he spotted, just rows and rows of long green stalks.

The house of Ryou’s father was near a small shrine, not in the center of the village, but not too far out, either. A nice place, as far as Marik could judge that. Definitely nicer than being locked up underground.

A few times on the drive, Marik thought about reaching out to Ryou and taking his hand again, but each time, he stopped himself. Marik wouldn’t mind Ryou’s father knowing about them, but that should be Ryou’s decision.

As Marik had learned the last couple of days, Ryou was a great cook, but even he couldn’t beat his father in that department; the food they had for dinner was amazing, and Ryou’s father was very curious about the area Marik lived in. Which would have made for a nice conversation, had Marik known a little more about said area. Luckily, though, Ryou was surprisingly skilled at changing the topic to something easier to talk about just before Marik started having trouble.

Marik could tell Ryou’s father was thinking about something, though; maybe he was wondering what happened to the millennium ring, or maybe he’d noticed how Marik tended to dodge question about his family.

“You know,” Ryou’s father finally said. “You two make a very cute couple.”

Marik and Ryou both started coughing, choking over their food in unison. Ryou caught his breath first. “You noticed?”

His father laughed. “I can tell by how you’re glancing at each other, Ryou. Your mother and I look just like that in our old photographs. And I mean what I say—I’m glad you found someone you look at like that.”

Ryou glanced over at Marik, and nodded. “As am I.”

Marik nodded, too; it took him a second longer to free his airways and find his voice again. He looked at Ryou. “I’m happy to have found you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryou's dad:"Son, your gay is showing."  
> sdhjkaldhslh a n y w a y, I'm here for supportive parents mildly surprising and/or embarrassing their teens who thought they were being ~sneaky~ while actually being super obvious.


	5. Chapter 5

The dinner on New Year’s Eve was grand, with many different dishes, some of which Marik had never tasted before, all prepared by Ryou and his father.

“Later tonight,” Ryou’s father explained, “We’ll go visit the shrine—You’ve seen it on the drive here, right?”

Marik nodded.

“You don’t have to come along if you don’t want to, though.” Ryou smiled at him.

“I do want to.” Marik returned the smile. “If it’s important to you, I want to see it.” It might not be one of his own traditions, but he was curious—and would rather experience it himself than just read about it.

After dinner, Ryou’s father put a little food on a tray. Marik watched as he set it down before some sort of wooden shrine, then kneeled down in front of it, flanked by Ryou.

Marik kept some distance; this felt like something he didn’t want to interrupt. As he glanced at them, he caught a glimpse of some photographs inside the shrine. Marik didn’t know the people it depicted, but one showed a young girl with long white hair, and features very similar to Ryou’s.

Ryou and his father were silent for a moment; it almost felt as if the house itself held its breath. Then they stood back up and stepped away from the shrine. There was something melancholic in Ryou’s eyes when he returned to Marik’s side, and without thinking, Marik gave him a quick hug.

They spent the rest of the evening playing games and watching TV, until just minutes before midnight. Ryou yawned; he’d been up early, but he didn’t want to miss the visit to the shrine.

Marik, meanwhile, was starting to get nervous. He couldn’t quite tell why; maybe he was worried about somehow messing up while they were at the shrine. Although, all things considered, if Ryou didn’t mind his past, some small mistake wouldn’t deter him, either.

“All right, time to go.” Ryou’s father smiled at him. “The shrine is pretty close, but you might still want to put on something warmer than just a sweatshirt.”

Marik glanced at Ryou; he still didn’t have any warm clothes.

Ryou just giggled a little and handed him one of his own jackets, the same one Marik had worn on the trip here. “There you go.”

“Thank you.” Marik put it on; maybe, just maybe, the reason he hadn’t bought any warmer clothes after arriving in Japan was that he liked wearing Ryou’s. Not that he’d admit it, though.

Ryou’s father was trying to hide his grin, and failing. “All right then, let’s go.” He stepped outside, then waited for the other two to follow him.

Marik and Ryou held hands on the way to the shrine again. Their breath made small clouds in the air, visible in the streetlights that lined their way. It really wasn’t far to the shrine, five minutes at most, but Ryou’s father had been right. The night air was cold, and Marik was very thankful to have Ryou’s jacket.

It was fairly crowded around the shrine; most of the people in the neighborhood had come to visit it. Ryou and his father chatted with some of the others, answering some questions about how they’d been and how school was going for Ryou. Marik was listening, though he mostly kept quiet unless they addressed him directly. He still hadn’t let go of Ryou’s hand, though.

Once they arrived, Marik spotted a bell, and people started ringing it with a long stick just as he laid eyes on it. As far as he could tell, the first one seemed to be a priest, though after him, the visitors were allowed to ring it as well.

“Come on.” Ryou tugged at Marik’s hand and led him over to the bell. The stick was passed to him, and with a big swing, Ryou hit it, then handed the stick to Marik.

Marik hesitated for a moment before he swung it, hitting the bell with a little less force than Ryou had. Even so, the sound was loud and clear as Marik handed the stick to the next person in line.

“It’s rung 108 times,” Ryou whispered to Marik as they stepped back. “To cleanse everyone who hears it of the 108 earthly desires—the things that cause suffering.”

Well, it would definitely be nice if it was that easy. If he could leave behind anything bad just by listening to a bell.

They were just about to leave and head home, when Ryou stopped for a second, staying still for barely even a heartbeat before he continued walking again. Marik wouldn’t even have noticed if they hadn’t held hands, but now he was the one to stop. “What’s wrong?”

Ryou looked at Marik. “Nothing, I just…” His voice trailed off as his eyes met Marik’s. There was a second filled with silence, feeling almost endlessly long, then Ryou leaned forward, and his lips met Marik’s.

For a moment, Marik was too startled to react, eyes widened in surprise. Then he closed them and leaned into the kiss, letting go of Ryou’s hand to wrap his arms around him instead, gently.

It didn’t take long until they let go again, both blushing profusely, and perhaps a little bit embarrassed to have done this in public—but not embarrassed enough to open the hug as well, staying embraced a little bit longer, their faces only inches away from each other.

Ryou giggled, a sound clear as a chime. “You know, you can keep the sweater. You’ll need it the next time you visit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I actually finished it!!_  
>  About 5 months later than plannes  
> But I did.


End file.
